Contact elements, in particular plugs, have been known for a long time and are used in numerous electrical and electronic devices. Through repeated attachment to and release from a mating-contact element, contact elements are generally subject to great stress, such that the contact elements should be strong enough for the applied stresses. This is normally realized through high material strength along the plug end thereof. In contrast, the contact element generally has a low material strength along the conductor end in order to connect it to a conductor, for example by means of a pressing method, such as crimping.
Previously, such known contact elements have been manufactured by shaping them from one piece of a starting material by means of machining methods such as milling, for example. The resulting surfaces frequently still have to be smoothed and/or coated. This production method requires many production steps and consumes a lot of material due to the abrasion and, therefore, is complex and expensive.
An additional known method is the joining of segments of different thicknesses to make one contact element. This method, too, is complex and thus cost-intensive because the segments must normally be inseparably connected to one another, for example by welding.